David Linden Post

The following is a post from David Linden in the official Linden Forum. LOL Interesting. Are they confused as us?

セカンド・ライフは現在、日本語、韓国語、ドイツ語に特化した地域を新たに建設中です。そこで、日頃ご愛顧 いただいている皆様から、この新しいエリアでのコンテンツのアイディア・作成を応募いたします 。

あなたのデザインしてる服を東京で流行らせて見ませんか？ライン川沿いの美しい町並みを再現してみたいと思 いませんか？思い出に残る楽しい旅をソウルでしたことは？翻訳業を営んでみたいと思ったことは ？
あなたの夢のビジネス、ショップ、アミューズメント施設、その他、インターナショナルな住人に魅力的なコン テンツをお考えください。

選考が通られた方には無料アカウントの贈呈やその他のプレゼントを用意しております。多数のご応募、お待ち 申し上げております。


＜選考基準＞
仕様書の応募者は日本、韓国、ドイツのネイティブスピーカーである必要はありません。
ただし、新しい地区はその国の言葉のスピーカーを対象としています。例えば、作成される建造物のサイン等が対象言語を使用されていない場合は、それが適切である事を説明していただくか、または、類似するアイディアを提出された方との合同プロジェクトとさせていただく可能性もあります。
バイリンガル、マルチリンガルな方にはスキルを発揮していただくチャンスかと思います。もちろん、そうでな い方もご応募ください！

＜ご応募方法＞
コンテンツの仕様書につきましては、文章での簡単な説明、またはサンプルや試作品やスクリーンショット等の 送付をお願いします。コンテンツ作成に土地が必要な場合は、こちらでご用意いたします。
尚、プロジェクトを完遂された方には新しい地区で土地を所有する機会を差し上げる予定です。

仕様書の提出、および、ご意見、質問等は下記担当までお願いします。

日本の窓口： [email]slj@lindenlab.com[/email]、もしくはMakiko Lindenへのnotecard
韓国の窓口： [email]ginsu@lindenlab.com[/email]、もしくはGinsu Lindenへのnotecard
ドイツの窓口： [email]ben@lindenlab.com[/email]、もしくはBen Linden　notecard

ご応募の締め切りは2005年8月26日まで（あなたの現地時間）となります。

この仕様書の募集は日本、韓国、ドイツを対象にさせていただいてます。尚、他の国につきましては、現在検討 中です。

our former david was funnier and far more confusing

if you read the thread below, they are working on multilingual areas. they are posting the info in all the languages the areas will cover.

here you go...

<translation already posted>

Please keep Second Life's official language as English. Remember the lessons of Babel...

"Now the whole earth had one language and few words. And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Second LIfe and settled there. And they said to one another, 'Come, let us make prims, and link them thoroughly.' And they had prims for stone, and links for mortar. Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.' And the LINDENS came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built. And the LINDENS said, 'Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.' So the LINDENS scattered them abroad from There over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.' Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LINDENS confused the language of all Second Life; and from there the LINDENS scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth." (Genesis 11:1-9)

Im confused. you say you want to keep SL one language, and then use as your example a quote that shows "God" punishing people for being too industrious by the virtue of sharing a common language.

help plz?

Exactally. God is like a bad CS rep who screws with users for kicks.

I'm sure it looks like garbage if you don't have the language pack installed.

Thanks to all for explaining what it was I was seeing. I first thought maybe it was some secret message and whoever de-coaded it won some prize. I am nerdy like that.

Thanks to Google's language tools:

Second * life presently, Japanese and the Korean language, the area which is specialized in German is in the midst of constructing anew. Then, from everyone whom patronage it has always received, idea * compilation of the contents at the this new area we apply. Making the clothes be popular which you design in Tokyo, you don't see? When we would like to try reproducing the rows of buildings in town where the line river paralleling is beautiful thought it isn't? The pleasant traveling where it remains in memory as for being Seoul? As for thinking we would like to try operating the translation industry? Business of your dream, the shop and the amusement facility, in addition, please think of the charm コン テンツ in the international resident. In the one where selection passed we prepare the presentation and the other presents of the free account. Many application, we wait. As for the applicant of the < selection standard > specification as for the necessity to be the native speaker of Japan, Korea and Germany it is not. However, new area has dealt with the speaker of word of that country. For example, case object language it is not used sign and the like of the building which is drawn up, explaining the fact that that is appropriate, there is also a possibility of making combined project of the one which the idea which receives, or, resembles is submitted. Bilingual, multilingual in one whether the chance which shows skill you think. Of course, so method of being please apply! Concerning the specification of the < application methodological > contents, we ask sending the simple explanation or the sample and the prototype and the screen shot et cetera with composition. Case the land is necessary in contents compilation, we prepare with this way. Furthermore, it is the schedule which gives the opportunity which owns the land in new area in the one which project is completed. As for submitting the specification, and giving an advise and asking et cetera we ask to below-mentioned charge. The Japanese window: Notecard Korean to [email]slj@lindenlab.com[/email], or Makiko Linden window: Notecard German to [email]ginsu@lindenlab.com[/email], or Ginsu Linden window: The deadline of the [email]ben@lindenlab.com[/email], or Ben Linden notecard application is to August 26th of 2005 (your local time). Collection of this specification increases Japan, Korea and Germany to an object. Furthermore, presently it is in the midst of examining concerning other country.

Ok yes I am slightly bored at work.

In case you're interested, there are a few Resident-created Japanese sites here:

http://del.icio.us/secondlife/international

Har har. But as the editorial Hare, you might at least present a more logical/factual editorial.

In all seriousness, however, this ought to be a good move for LL's bottom line if handled well. Asia and Europe are way ahead of the U.S. in terms of "number of households with broadband" and "number of people subscribed to MMORPGs" (SL's not an MMORPG but it still competes with them and attracts some of the same audience). I don't have the source to cite off the top of my head but a good Google search should turn up several. Better market=better probability of staying alive in it.

Additionaly, the residents of SL are not "one people" As the Grid grows, they will increasingly continue to not be so.

This is exactly my point. By preserving English as the working language of Second Life you facilitate communication between users of all backgrounds.

By promoting fragmentation of our common communications medium we will eventually become "Babelised" and no longer as easily able to function together.

I don't see fragmentation as an inherently bad thing so much as a natural concequence of SL's population gorwing larger. Already there are plenty of subgroups, and some pre-existing foriegn language communities as well. I think it's fair to say that this has been the case since well before I came to the game in October '04. There's no single group of "SLers" that have to function togeather to survive. Instead, people have and will continue to form their own communities and live SL their seperate ways. Notice how many "alternitive lifestyle" groups have been moving to islands lately? Furries, Goreans, Elf Clan, some well-established SL communities like Chase's Manhatan, all the special-interest sims in the Dreamland continent...those are just the ones I know off the top of my head. Many existing islands, whether formed on similar themes or home to people who just enjoy being neighbors, have their islands moved togeather and more and more mini-continents like Oceanna (where I live, on Montmartre island) are poping up. I don't see this trend slowing down any time in the near future.

Does this mean that the communities can't or won't interact? No. We may not be working on projects togeather but we're not generaly dramatacly opposed to each other. We'll visit each others places, go to each other's events and generaly be both curious and friendly torward each other. There are also people who will want to ignore the rest of the grid and live in isolation and that's ok too. It's their Second Life. As long as they're within TOS, they can live it how they want to.

One of the advantages of these smaller communities is that a player just starting out on the Grid doesn't have to feel lost in the crowd. I imagine that "lost" is how many foriegn-language speakers must feel when they're brave enough to find their way onto a predominantly English grid. How long do you think a person feeling that way about Second Life is likely to stay? Instead, Linden Lab is setting out to provide support and help build communities for them. Bravo. It's a good direction to take from both a business standpoint and a "keep residents happy" standpoint. From a personal standpoint, I definately credit my discovery of one of SL's smaller communities for my continued presence here.

SL's tagline is "Your World, Your Immagination". As more people arrive with more diverse interests and backgrounds, it's less and less likely that any one person's imagined vision of "your world" will agree with another person's vision of it. Linden Lab has no intention of telling them to "like it or leave it", as I heard one well-known Resident say to another a few days ago, and neither do I.

So what exactly defines 'worlds'. i can understand culture speaking (that's a big one) but, as far as builds go? What exactly defines what area of the world one is in? Japan is obvious because of its unique architecture, but the others (such as Germany) what is it gonna be that makes these places unique compared to the main world?

I honestly don't see a difference, unless they're talking about a completely different grid.

I am of German decent but born in the US, and would love to be apart of my heritage, but Germany's heritage isn't the most pleasant, its has been mostly defined from World War 2 through the Cold War.

This might be a quite difficult task to undertake to define what exactly the worlds are to look like (if that's what i'm thinking it reads).

I'm using the term "world" pretty loosely. It could be "the SL experience a player creates for themself" or "the domain they habitualy occupy". I also frequently use the term "in-world" to refer to things happening on the grid at large. A player who's not tied to any one place and likes to wander the grid a lot could be said to be exploring "the world", for others, their world is the little corner of the grid they've carved out for themselves. The center of my SL world is Montmartre and its neighbors in the Oceana island chain but I'll frequently waste hours exploring other parts of the grid as well. The whole concept as I'm outlining it is subjective, the specifics varrying from person to person, ranging in scope from "my own little world" with a person's simulated dream house and a few friends to hang out with to large themed/zoned communities (of which I suspect the Gorean sims are currently the largest in terms of landmass and share a completely uniform theme).

I don't know any people who are culturaly German so I can't say what a German community would be like. I can point to a couple examples: Friesland (in the Dreamland continent) is the German speaking community Anshe set up (she lives in Germany) and Neualtenbarg, while not made of German people, has a Bavarian/Modern architectual theme and an experimental player government. I get the impression that the Lindens are going to set up new mini-continents for the different international communities they're trying to attract but it will still be accessable from the main grid, unlike the Teen grid.

Ultimately, what makes a community distinctive is the people in it. Montmartre has always been an "artiste" group, but the island and the community has evolved over time as new people come, old people drift off to other communities/projects/RL, etc.

Wrong, you facilitate communication between users who can speak English. LL are trying to encourage a whole new user group whose first, second or third language is NOT English... Though why they've singled out Germany I don't know.

That's the idea. We have enough problems trying to communicate with Americans who apparently lack a first language.

If Linden Lab wants to encourage communities that communicate in other languages create seperate grids for them, but not until they are done fixing this grid.

There's a fix in??

yea, god forbid we let any of those dirty foreigners in. </sarcasm>

I think of SL as a place for people to freely express themselves. If they want to do it in german, korean, chinese, al bhed, esperanto, or klingon, I welcome them, and I look forward to seeing them add their flavors and aesthetic sense to this world.

If LL wants to encourage people who don't speak english as their primary language to come to SL, I really think it only makes good business and development sense.

What good is your metaverse if it only covers a third or a quarter of the globe?

Let me answer your question with three...

1. Do you think Linden Lab has a handle on customer service as it stands now?

2. Is SL functioning properly?

3. Where in the list of 561 current feature requests in the voting system do you think "Create a customer service and community headache by encourging large number new users with no common language who won't even be able to read the TOS let alone follow it." falls?

as far as customer service goes, I dont think they have a terrible handle on it. Ive had several problems with service and all were resolved to my satisfaction. I'm a little more forgivable than most, having spent most of the last couple years working the other end of a customer/technical service phone, but I dont think they do a bad job.

SL works as good as most online programs for me. I have no general complaints now that TPs work again. Im excited about some of the things they have planned, and they will make the expierience more enjoyable, but if it didnt work well enough to make it an enjoyable expierience, I wouldn't be here.

As far as the voting system goes, it blows. but several LL mouthpieces have said over the last week that it will be recieving more attention in the very near future.

With regards to the "large number new users with no common language" I assume they will have translated copies of the TOS availiable. In addition I find the connotation that non-english speaking players would be more prone somehow to TOS violations offensive.

You have been here a month. No offense, but you probably don't have enough experience in this area to judge.

Customer service in general in SL is a wreck, especially private estate service and dealing with player abuse. SL is so bug filled at the moment that the most demanded new feature from the voting system was to fix outstanding issues. There are bugs that seriously effect the playability of SL for users that have been ignored for the entire two years I have been involved with the program. These bugs continue to languish while LL turns its focus to features like the teen grid that introduce even more bugs and customer service headaches.

Don't take my word for it though, ask around.

You don't seriously believe I am against promoting new foreign language users because I am a bigot or an isolationist? Second Life's current official language is English, and the world isn't stable enough to expand services beyond that. It makes no sense to introduce frivolous features that make it even harder for current residents to get along. SL just is not ready.

If Linden Lab is going to expend time and energy on new programs than let it be programs that improve the core function, or give up the code to open source so we can all work on improving it.

Ive been here for two months. if you're going to attack me for being a noob, at least get your facts straight.

I have heard the complaints about service, and while a certain percentage of them are legitimate, as LL is seemingly understaffed in this regard, I have dealt with the same whiny faction in every community I've ever been a part of, people who gripe about whatever the topic of the day is, more to be heard and get their name out than to actually accomplish anything.

I dont think you're deliberately being a bigot. It just comes off that way.

As far as this world goes, theres alot of people who want certain things changed. I want smaller prims so I can make jewelry that doesnt look clunky. I want web browsing in game. Hell, I want full immersion now.

Any feature that is announced, a certain percentage of people who feel passionately about something else are going to say "hey, why arent you dropping everything and working on my pet project." I get upset when you do it over something that will cost a small percentage of the availiable resources to implement, requires none of the same staff (you think the people concerned with world stability are really going to get sidetracked building a place where german visitors feel comfortable?), and will make the entrance into this world easier for a certain percentage of users.

If you cant get along with someone just because there is a certain degree of a language barrier, you aren't trying very hard.

What alot of people don't realize is that in order for this world to grow, they have to focus equally on growing and diversifying the customer base as well as working on the infrastructure. the expanding customer base allows them the money and resources to expand the world, and expanding and improving the world allows for more room for customers. This attitude that alot of people have that LL should perfect the world before they let anyone else in just doesnt make good business sense. They have to keep things at a bearable level, granted, and I think they're doing fine with that. If the in-world problems have you this upset, it might be time to take a step back and wait for them to catch up in the cycle.

I am all for the attempt at expanding the SL metaverse to other players of all lands and languages. As long as there is an in-stream translation ability it would be all cool. Also to think, we may actually end up learning another language by hanging out with those from different countries and the learning experience about other cultures would be incredible! I have been fascinated by other cultures ever since I learned I was a mutt and my family tree spreads all across the globe (insert witty family twig or bush joke here), so this forray into other languages/countries will be a good thing (for me anyway). The potential to open up whole noew markets and object niches is also astounding, a new in-world customer base to sell to will (hopefully) increase the cash flow and up the value of the Linden. And as for support issues, expanding capability also means expanding support and adding new resources (in an ideal corporate structure, unlike mine) so I don't think that support will slack off, it may improve quite well. Greifers may also have to be aware that they may be greifing a RL ninja, so it may help reduce greifers.